Metro Manila at ‘moderate’ risk for COVID-19 – OCTA

MANILA, Philippines — With the number of daily COVID-19 cases still on a downward trend, Metro Manila, Cavite and Rizal are now under “moderate” risk classification, the OCTA Research Group reported yesterday.

OCTA fellow Guido David, however, noted that the positivity rates in the National Capital Region (NCR) and the two provinces remain high.

“We need to strictly comply with health and safety protocols to bring this down to low risk,” David said in a Twitter post.

OCTA said Metro Manila posted a 20-percent positivity rate. Cavite and Rizal are at 27 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

Guido said Batangas, Laguna and Quezon remain under the “high risk” category with positivity rates of 27 percent, 42 percent and 39 percent, respectively.

OCTA, an independent research group monitoring the pandemic, said Metro Manila could improve to “low risk” category within two weeks if COVID-19 cases continue to decrease.

Navotas COVID-19 cases down

In Navotas, Mayor Toby Tiangco said the city recorded a single-digit increase in COVID-19 cases.

Tiangco said Navotas registered only seven new COVID infections for a total 201 active cases as of Friday.

The city had over 1,600 active COVID-19 cases on Jan. 15. Navotas first registered a single-digit increase in cases on Jan. 26, with four new infections.

The positivity rate also went down to 25 percent, from as high as 66 percent at the start of January.

Tiangco urged his constituents to continue following health protocols even as Navotas was classified at “moderate” risk by OCTA. – Marc Jayson Cayabyab